Question to Radhanath Swami: It is said that a prayer should be a cry from the heart. But many times it is mechanical. In that case, should we artificially try to cry or should we wait till the cry naturally comes from the heart?
Radhanath Swami: We shouldn’t be artificial, but we should be sincere. If we do not have sincerity, we can honestly pray for that. Our Guru used to say that everything is based on our desire. Our whole life is built up on the foundation of our desires; if we desire God, we will get God. So someone asked Prabhupad, “What if we have no such desire?” Even that’s not a problem. We should desire the desire to desire. And if we can’t do that, then desire the desire to desire the desire. And if you can’t do that, then desire the desire to desire the desire to desire the desire. But we all have the power to desire and no one can take that away from us. It’s only a question of what we desire.
We should not make a show; that is hypocrisy. We should not crave for people to honor us as saintly persons. That is another type of false pride. That is a facade. The Lord sees the honesty and sincerity of our intention; the Lord accepts the purpose in which everything is offered. The Lord does not accept the thing because the Lord does not need anything; he already has everything. He is the proprietor of everything that exits. What can you give God? Does he need your money, does he need your intelligence? It is He who is giving it all to you. But if you offer any of these things with sincere devotion, the Lord accepts. So even with prayers, if it is offered with sincere devotion, the Lord accepts.
